wantabee

Lost my Tranny today. With less than 900km (540 miles) traveling along Trans Canada Highway at 100km/hr (66mph) heard a clang in the drive train, the rpms increased by 300 for a few seconds and then a bad vibration could be felt in the drive train. It felt like the universal had let go...a check of the driveshaft and universal showed they were tight. I also felt the rear end...it was no warmer than you would expect for this time of year given I had driven for 3 hrs. I was fortunately less than 1 mile from a dealer...nursed the baby along into the lot. Checked the tranny fluid...appeared to be filings in the fluid. allong :'(<br><br>My ******* fronted a rental...but this tranny was abruptly going into gear from the day I picked the truck up 5 days ago. I also noticed this a.m. after stopping at Tim Hortons (Donut shop!!!) that the computer put the truck into high idel after 2 minutes...this seemed odd as the truck was fully warmed up..according to the owners manual, the high idel was only to kick in if the coolant fell below a certain level...yet the truck was up to full operating tempreture just after coming off the highway??? Would a computer malfunction cause the tranny to act up?<br><br>In the past the performance of these trannys has been in question....what was the manner under which the trannys had failed in the past?<br><br>After spending a half a mortgage to get this truck and have the tranny go in 5 days is a bit much. The wife is ******.....DC should compensate me some how for this one...not a good advertisemnet for the new tough 2500 series RAM in these parts.<br><br>Hopefully they will get to the bottom of it on Monday......in the interm...they gave me a caravan....god I loved my truck :'( If there was ever falling in love after a week...it hit me with my new Ram<br><br><br>A very disheartened Wantabee<br><br>'03 2500 Quad Laramie with a peice of s**t auto tranny :'(

converteddzlr

Sheesh, now ya got me thinkin' that I shoulda gone with the HO 6 spd! Time will only tell since I'm still patiently waiting for mine ...... then again maybe that's what they're looking at in St. Louis : (a guy can hope can't he?????)<br><br>By the way did I say patiently??? <br>Sold my truck AND the ol' car we had kickin' around this week! Guess it'll be thumbin' until DC delivers

Hunter

Man that sucks!<br><br>But the auto has always been the weak link. Even my dealer suggested against ordering an auto.<br><br>And, does anyone &quot;really&quot; believe the 48RE will be better?<br><br>Happy so far HO 6 speed man Hunter

FiverBob

The diesel mechanic at my dealer was commenting on what he had heard and seen of the new 48RE. He had heard it is heavy Benz, maybe almost totally Benz. They have implied it could be bumped to five or six speed with valve changes. He is quite versed on the Benz stuff and commented he hoped that is what it ended up. He thought it was a very good, and very beefy tranny. I will have to pursue that more when I get back home next week. Sure need something to compete with the first reports of the Ford tranny.<br>

Moparior

Man that really sucks! :'(<br><br>Also scares the daylights out of me considering I just bought a 2500 SLT 4x4 a week ago with the auto. I know the auto has been a problem in the past, but the wife can't drive a stick, and I was hoping to get through the 70,000 mile warranty period and then do some aftermarket tranny work to beef it up. I hooked it to my camper today to see how it pulled and I was pleased as it did much better than my 99 1500 5.9 did. However I only have about 400 miles on the rig so far so it is still early. Keep us posted wantabee! I feel for ya! :-[

pwabbott

Wantabee, a computer malfunction could be the cause of your tranny problem. We bought a Grand Cherokee in Dec of 94. Almost from the start we would lose 1st and 4th gears without warning. Turned out to be the electronic governor in the tranny. New components were installed and no problems since. If it is an electronic failure it usually happens in the first hours of operation. Mechanical failures happen more gradually these days. Too bad you drew the bad one.

wantabee

Sierra:<br><br>I hope you are right....but I feel the bolt(s) snapped from the fly wheel which sent the torque converter in an uneven balance which caused the vibration.<br><br>They will strip her down tomorrow...let keep our finger crossed [undecided]<br><br>Wantabee

westcoaster

the tranny thing sucks but as for the high idle I have noticed from time to time when running in cool temps if I shut my truck off and go to start it again within 30sec to 1 min the grid heater will cycle. I just figure the intake air has cooled the intake manifold and the engine heat hasn't had time to warm the manifold. '93 w250 with a 5 sp

wantabee

Boys:<br><br>It wasn't the tranny after all...it was the rear end low on lubricant which caused the differential to seize. Please see related pos<br><br>Wantabee